Knight Errored
by ScaraMedn
Summary: Medieval semi-fantasy AU One-Shot. She's a knight. He's a rogue who lives in a castle with a pint-sized dragon, in place of a damsel who got tired of waiting. A little fun with our two favorite characters!
1. Chapter 1

Judy Hopps, Knight Errant of the Triburrows Kingdom, finally had the castle in sight. It had been an exhausting, miserable journey. She just prayed she still had the strength to fight.

Her charge had been simple, something straight from the pages of fairy tales: reach the castle, rescue the captive damsel, defeat the dragon if necessary. She had trained her entire life for just such a quest. Bards would sing her praises and scribes would pass down her heroism in the annals of the kingdom! She might even get a plot of land!

 _I hope they leave out the muddy boot incident…  
_

Her road had been challenging right from the start. There was rain almost the whole way, resulting in closed passes and lost bridges, not to mention several leagues of travel by foot to circumvent these hindrances. Then, there were freak hail storms that forced her to take shelter for days at a time. She'd faced down bandits and fended off a random attack by a rogue pheasant. The endless miles of mud took its toll on her morale and mind. If she didn't know any better Judy would have suspected that Gaia herself was opposing her mission.

It didn't matter, though. All her hardships were worth it! She had arrived!

As she slunk into the castle, she was initially uncomfortable with the silence and lack of any kind of defenses. Dragons usually attracted other, smaller monsters who acted as a first line of defense, or at least an alarm. In rare cases, like an ancient or elder dragon, the hangers on could include sentient demons and become a full-on army. Here, there was nothing.

The silence was increasingly distressing. Step by achingly nerve-wracking step, Judy made her way through the castle. Her goal was the top of the east bastion, where the object of this taxing rescue mission was kept. It took hours of tension to traverse the mammoth structure. By the time she made it to the bastion, she was nearing a state of nervous exhaustion. It was so bad that she almost missed the fact that the door from the parapet walkway to the bastion was new.

It puzzled her for a moment, but she put it out of her mind, as she had bigger worries than a new door in a dragon infested castle.

 _Maybe, it was the dragon's servants. If they're that intelligent, I need to get her and escape as quickly as possible. Maybe, we can escape and not have to fight at all!_

Judy, for all her flaws, was no fool. She was very well aware that conflict was a last resort. Especially with anything like a fire breathing wyrm. With that in mind, Judy steeled herself and shoved the door with all her might. The door flew open and she pounced through the portal into the room, ready for anything. Except, that is, a door on well-oiled hinges and rebounded off the wall, before slapping back into her, knocking her sideways off her feet. She had the presence of mind to register a very feminine scream, before the air was punched from her lungs by the stone wall and floor.

Judy scrambled to her feet, searching for the noble lady who had obviously wailed, hoping desperately to defend her from what was attacking her, but all she saw was a fox. A male fox. A naked male fox.

"Who are you?", she barked, trying to keep her eyes above his waistline. As his waist was at her chest level, it was a challenge.

"Who am I? Who are you? What are you doing in my home?", came the fox's incredulous reply.

Judy could only blink as she processed the fox's words. Nothing made sense, so she went with the next priority. "Where is Lady Margaret?"

"Who?"

"Lady Margaret Dunhop! The damsel who was ta-" Judy failed to keep her eyes up once too often and couldn't take it anymore. "Oh, gods, put some pants on!", she shouted.

"Awfully demanding for a burglar, aren't you?"

"I am not a burglar! I'm Judith Hopps, a Knight Errant of the Triburrows Kingdom. I am here to rescue Lady Margaret Dunhop, the rabbit noblewoman who was taken by the dragon. Now, where is she and where are your pants?"

Judy was struggling with controlling the volume of her voice and her focus was too fractured for her to do anything but flail. Apparently, the fox found her to be humorous. He rooted around for something to wear, making no move to cover himself. Eventually, he found a kilt and belt to wear and slid them on.

"Usually, I'd demand payment for the show, but today looking is free, Fluff. Aren't you the lucky bunny?", He cooed at her, once he was dressed.

"How dare you!"

"The easiest way possible, as often as I can. Now, you said you were looking for the former resident here?"

"The prisoner. Lady-"

"Yes, yes. Lady whatever-her-name-was. I'm her replacement."

"Her what?" Obviously either she mis-heard, or he was would have been fine by her, right then.

"Her replacement." The fox repeated, enunciating each syllable with painful clarity. "She got tired of waiting and hired me to be her replacement, when I snuck in to rob the place."

"I can't rescue you!"

"Who wants to be rescued? I love it here!"

His indignant reply was one too many mental disconnects for Judy to take and she flopped against the wall, pinching the bridge of her nose. Taking pity on her, the fox said, "Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot. The name's Nick. I live here. And you are…?"

"Hopps. Judith Hopps, knight errant. Hopelessly screwed."

"I'm assuming you don't mean you're here to take me to bed."

The rabbit's glare rivaled his roommate's breath for intensity. "I was tasked with rescuing the noblewoman kept captive in this castle by the dragon. Until I rescue her, I can't return to the kingdom to claim my reward. Now, where is she?"

"She was here earlier today."

"She was?"

"Yeah. She usually visits with her husband, when he delivers the supplies, every week."

HJudy's hope whithered as quickly as it bloomed, moments ago. "Her husband?"

"Yeah. She hired me to be her stand in, so she could marry the brewmaster at the town over the ridge. That was, what, three years ago, now?"

At that moment, a booming roar echoed through the castle. Judy leapt to guard, while Nick looked nonplussed. "Great, he's up."

"Who? The dragon?"

"Oh, he's a dragon, alright." Nick groused, before turning to another door at the back of the room and shouting, "Finnick! We have a guest!"

An unintelligible response rattled the ceiling, before the door swung open. The being that walked into the room looked like a fennec fox, but had a line of spikey scales from the crown of his head to the tip of his tail and a patch of flat scales on his belly. Judy knew this because he, obviously, he was also completely naked.

"Do you two have something against wearing clothing?", Judy asked flatly, covering her eyes.

The fennec dragon eyeballed her, before booming, "Two words, toots. Bachelor. Pad." He then wobbled over to a wine rack beside Judy and grabbed a bottle. He used his forked tongue to pull the cork and started chugging the bottle as he left the room. All Judy could do was stare in horrified fascination.

"I know, right?" Nick commented with a wink. "That tongue…"

"That wasn't what I was thinking at all!"

"Whatever you say knight red-ears. Before you ask, his momma likes 'em petite."

"Is his mother here, too?"

"Nah. She lives in a swamp down south. They haven't seen each other in a couple hundred years."

At that point Nick noticed his guest wasn't doing so hot. She was stunned and staring blankly. She wasn't invited, but she hadn't stabbed him on sight, so she wasn't all bad.

"Look, fluff." The rabbit turned his way and he sighed. "How does this sound? You've obviously had a long trip and you look a little thrown. How does this sound? I'll make dinner and you can have a bath. Maybe after a hot meal and a drink or two it won't seem so bad and we can figure out what's what?"

Judy latched on to one word in everything he'd said. A word that sounded like music and angels and endless bliss to her after her journey. She turned to her now-host with doe-eyes at full blast and asked, "You have a bath?"

"We even have hot water.", Nick replied with a chuckle.

Judy couldn't help herself. "How?"

"Finnick's breath is good for two things, scaring birds and heating water."

Her armor and gear started hitting the floor. "Where is it?"


	2. Chapter 2

A/N:

Fair warning: I changed the rating to M for a reason. Read at your own risk. Or don't. It's your call, really.

Now that the warning is out of the way, on we go to a completely unplanned expansion to what was supposed to be a one-shot.

Boo-yah.

* * *

Judy slowly regained consciousness to a cacophony in her skull. A gang of gnomes had clearly invaded her skull during the night and set about practicing for a thrash metal battle of the bands. It had absolutely nothing to do with the copious amounts of mead she'd consumed with her new acquaintances from the evening before.

She remembered everything until after the bath. It had been a very strange experience to watch the little dragon-fox-thing gulp strong spirits and literally belch fireballs into the huge stone basin that served as the bathtub for the castle. It was easily large enough for her whole family to bathe in without touching and yet the one called Finnick had heated the whole thing to amply steaming before he was finished his bottle.

Afterwards, he'd finished several more before cracking open a barrel of beer taller than she was and diving in for a swim. The barrel was now a shattered collection of staves and metal rings in a puddle on the far side of the room. It's former semi-aquatic occupant, meanwhile was barfing loudly into what Judy managed to remember was a vase.

"What are you doing?"

"Leading a marching band down Kind's Lane. What does it look like, rabbit?"

"That's a Mink Vase. It's practically priceless," She groaned out as she flobbered to her feet.

"Ugh. fine." Was all the response she got before the now vomit filled vase was tossed out the window. She heard the crash as it landed followed by someone below them making a disgusted sound.

"Where's um… What's his name…?"

"His name is Asshole." Finnick burped greenly. "Down in the bath."

"Smart bastard."

"Bastard. Yeah. Woke my ass up to heat the water. Took another half bottle." On the last syllable, he scampered hurriedly to a bucket and sang his gastronomic unhappiness to the world. "Nothing's worse than the hare of the fox that bit you."

"Isn't that supposed to help?"

"Hair of the dog helps. Hare of the fox in bristly."

It took Judy a moment to work through what he'd actually said. "He bit you?!"

"That's what it took to wake my ass up."

His piece said, Finnick turned back to filling all the empty containers in the area and Judy staggered off to the bath, holding her nose the entire way. It was incredible how much liquid the little creature's body could expel; almost as incredible as getting it all in there in the first place.

As she made it down the stone steps, Judy felt slightly better. With each step, the warmth and humidity of the air increased. The walls were sweating by the time she reached the bottom. Like a starving mammal sighting a feast, she sped as quickly as her hungover balance would allow her to the edge of the basin. Without any preamble, she slipped to a sitting position and into the water.

"OK. This is a bit more like it."

Judy's eyes cracked open to see the fox sitting across from her with both eyebrows way, way up. "Huh?"

"You really don't know, do you?

Now, she was a little concerned. "Know what?"

"Oh, wow, rabbit… Really?"

"What? What don't I know?"

"A lot of things, I'd guess, but this is a big one."

"What? What is it?" Her head was pounding with her heartbeat.

"You're naked."

Her first thought was along the lines of "of course I am. I'm in the bath." Then, she thought for more than a second and realized so was he. She shrugged and flopped back into the warm water.

"Not the reaction I expected."

"What? I'm a knight. Happens all the time in barracks."

"This isn't barracks, rabbit. This is female bathing with a male."

"Are you saying you're uncomfortable with this?" Judy queried with a cracked eye.

"Slightly?" Her slit-eyed glace became disbelieving side-eye with a raised eyebrow garnish. "What?"

"You were naked when we met. I have barely worn anything since we started drinking and now your slightly uncomfortable?"

"Yesterday was kinda weird, even for me and my roomie is a knee height part-fire-breathing-lizard. I was still kinda drunk and thought I was dreaming a little."

"And last night?"

"Booze was involved?"

"So what's different now?"

"Uhh... One? Sobriety. Two? Bath. I can smell everything better in hot water and you smell good. Three, it's been a while for me, Carrots. Three, you, warm, wet and naked."

"One, bull on sobriety. I see the mug of beer on the edge of the basin. Two, really now… And three, you like what you see, little fox?"

"This is just my breakfast beer. And, yes, to the rest of it."

Judy dipped down, soaking herself to her shoulders and stood. Her head still hurt, but she had an idea of what would help ease the pain. She watched the fox's eyes grow as she walked. It was obvious they never made it higher than her neck, or lower than the waterline at her mid-thigh. When she reached the fox, she leaned in and plucked the tankard from behind him.

"I'm waiting for the reason you're uncomfortable." She drained the container as she waited for her answer.

"Much less so now…"

Judy chuckled and plunked the tankard back where she got it. "Look, fox."

"Nick." He corrected as he reached behind himself and opened a tap on another barrel, refilling his tankard.

"That's right. Nick." She sighed as she sank back into the water in front of the fox while he took a long pull of his breakfast. "Look, Nick. I can go home in disgrace, or I can take a little time to prepare myself for it. Personally, I want a break after the weeks on the road and all the horrible weather. If you don't want me out, I'll stay a bit. Does that work?"

"Uhh, sure."

"And if I happen to find something else I like..." Her eyes dipped lower and saw something that wasn't an eel, under the water. "I may stay longer."

"Anything in particular?"

"A seat maybe? Or a toy that's... about as long as my forearm... and as thick as my fist. Oh, my gods... I've seen equines in the barracks smaller than you!"

"Small equines."

"Well, yes. They were ponies, but still!" Judy pulled his breakfast out of his paw and took a drink.

"Yeah..." Nick chuckled. "There's a reason Finn lets me stay. Technically, this is his place." That got her attention. "He's half dragon. He can take it."

Beer shot all over him.

"How can it have been a while if that's why he keeps you around?"

"Half. Dragon."Nick chortled as he rinsed the beer spray off himself. "His interest only comes up two or three times a year at most."

"More for me!"

"Hang on. What?"

"You really can't be that dim." Judy crawled forward on her knees until she was nose to nose with him. "I'll make it simple. I'll keep your manly bits occupied when you aren't paying rent. Deal?"

"You just compared me to a horse."

She kept crawling until she was forced to straddle his legs and settled there. "Pony and I don't see the problem." She let her paws wander over his chest briefly before slipping lower.

Nick tensed as her velvety paws found something worth their attention. As she explored, he forced himself to reply. "You sure about this, fluff?"

Her grip firmed and she began to stroke him. "My king sent me on a doomed mission that I really can't come back from. Either he knew already, or he won't believe me if I told him. I've been traveling for weeks and in training for years. Do you have any idea how little fun there is to be had training to be a knight?"

"Right now, I'm not sure I care."

Judy grinned and increased her efforts. "None. Not for years."

Judy was well past turned on. She hadn't lied. Years was the absolute truth. It had been years since she'd even gotten her paws on a male properly, let alone one so properly compliant. She was a rabbit. That being, she was not shy about pursuing her interests and she was very interested in what this fox had to offer. Ordinarily, she'd want a taste first, but that would wait until drowning wasn't a risk. Instead, she shimmied forward and planted her feet on either side of his hips. He obligingly rolled his hips down to give her better access and she grinned into his chest.

Much as she wanted desperately to skip to the main performance, she wanted a little more teasing first. After so long a wait, she needed it to be well worth it. She planted her lips on his shaft and rolled her hips, dragging herself along his length. It was almost too much. A second stroke followed. Then a third and a fourth. His head was lolled back against the edge of the basin and she panted into the ruff of his chest.

After an embarrassingly short six strokes, she couldn't wait any longer. Sliding higher, she let his foxhood slip behind her and lift slightly from the lack of the pressure from her body. When she felt his tip find the right spot, she hooked her hips and captured it. Then, it was a long, slow agonizingly needed slide down. She took her time so she could adjust, but also to savor. She was full for the first time in so very long and not even halfway down. She gasped as she let gravity do the work and she slid further and further on to him.

Judy's breath was ragged and her legs were trembling, but she wasn't there yet. However, she couldn't make herself finish her descent. Her seat seemed to sense this and his paws came to rest on her hip. In one smooth motion, he shifted her legs forward so he held their weight and pressed her down. A full-throated moan echoed off the stone walls as her hips finally met his.

He released the pressure on her hips and her paws found the floor, again. A moment to breathe was all Judy needed before she rose on him and forced herself down, again. It was easier the second time, but no less intense. A third followed. Soon she had a rhythm going. Riding him with long, slow even strokes.

Judy's first climax snuck up on her.

One moment, she was enjoying her ride as the fox raked his tongue along her neck. The next moment, she felt his teeth brush her skin and the world went white. Judy came back to herself, slumped against Nick's chest, panting with her paws tangled in his fur.

"You ok, rabbit?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." Judy sounded breathless to her own ears. "Little surprised."

"Good."

Judy felt his paws back on her hips moments before he rolled his hips into her and she was full again. Their rhythm this time was much quicker and it wasn't just her moving. They met each other halfway, thrust for thrust. His moans mixing with hers as their passions built.

She felt it more than anything else. His pace grew frantic and his motions rougher, more expectant. Hungrier. She was already tired but had no desire to stop. Yielding to his drive, Judy stopped working and simply grappled onto his chest, holding on while he had his way. Another bloom of pleasure was forcing her back to arch, pulling a scream from her throat when it happened. The fox buried himself to the hilt inside her and snarled as he reaching his own breaking point. As the wave slammed into her, Judy felt him grow inside her, stretching and locking them together. Another wave joined the first and a third as she felt his heat pour into her. Her blunt claws raked down his sides, pulling another growl from his throat.

In the post-coital haze, Judy drunkenly pushed herself up on one paw and pulled her lover's face down for a deep kiss. Their tongues twined and explored through the afterglow. At length, their lips separated and the spent rabbit rested.

"So how long are we going to be stuck like this?"

"That depends on how good it was."

"So, How long?"

"Quite a while, Carrots. Quite a while."

Judy nuzzled his neck before clenching down on him with her muscles. "Good."

The kiss that followed was interrupted by their roommate's voice booming through the chamber. "Oh, hell no!"

"Have a drink, Finn. The water's fine."

"Not until you've cleaned the tub, Wilde."

Judy chimed in. "Plenty of time after round two for that."

Finn groaned and Nick chuckled.

"Rabbits…"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N:

Welcome to the second accidental expansion on this former one-shot. I could n't help it. Writer's block demanded it.

My thanks go out to the following:

kt_valmiri for soundboarding.  
Damlone & BlueberryandHoney for beta reading.  
OnceNeverTwiceAlways for editing.

If you want to help me create more accidental chapters, or my other writing, you can buy me a coffee. Check out the link in my profile for more details.

Enjoy!

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Judy had taken up residence at the dragon's castle, and she was still uncertain if what had happened since arriving had been a dream or not. On the one paw, if she had been dreaming, her subconscious was demonstrating a rather puckish streak. However, if she hadn't, it meant that she'd had sex with a near-stranger while still tipsy in a bathtub larger than even her liege lord owned and been walked in on by a pint-sized fox-dragon. She wasn't sure she could handle the embarrassment if that was the case.

Her upbringing hadn't been strict, exactly. There had been too many of her generation around to even be mostly managed by their parents. They _had,_ on the other hand, instilled in each of their kits a degree of self-respect and moral fiber. That said, they were rabbits. Judy had been an aunt dozens of times over before she'd left to apprentice for her knighthood. Her species wasn't an excuse, as far as she was concerned, and—once she'd gotten over the idea that she'd actually done what she had—she tried very, very hard to feel regret. The attempt didn't exactly last long. She'd been raised right and well, but she was a grown doe and capable of making her own mistakes.

It was distressing to her how little she felt that the word "mistake" applied.

Since their tryst in the tub, neither of them had said a word about it. They'd had plenty of opportunity, but both remained companionably silent on the matter. Judy felt this wasn't a poor way to handle it. They were both adults, and a silent agreement to let it be in the past and stay there was perfectly reasonable.

Judy's conviction on that last point lasted all of three days.

Getting a taste after such a long dry spell only served to kickstart her libido. Repressing it had been necessary through her training, but that was over. Her king had neatly disposed of her by sending her off on a fool's errand, and now she had to find something else to do—rather, someone—in this moment. The rest could wait a bit.

Sadly, Judy had no idea how to broach the subject without coming across as a twit or a slut, and as neither appealed to her, it would have to wait for an opportune moment. Grumbling, she unearthed herself from the pallet she'd made in her room and headed to the bath. The walk would hopefully be long enough to cool a little of the fire in her blood. As her new room was at the top room of the tower Finnick had given her, it was entirely possible.

Her landlord was waiting for her in the main room of the balustrade, breathing long tongues of flame into an old iron stove.

"Morning, Finn." The tiny scaled fox grumbled in response to her greeting. "Hungover again?"

"What do you think?"

She peeked over the mini-dragon's shoulder. "Is that breakfast?"

"Yeah. It'll be ready in a bit. Where are you going?"

"To pay my rent."

"I'll yell when food's ready," Finnick commented as he turned back to stirring the pot.

"And the heavens will hear you," Judy added, flippantly.

"Shut up, rabbit. And get to the garden."

Chuckling, Judy made her way out of the part of the castle they lived in and headed through the weeds. To her initial surprise, the foxes did not subsist on alcohol and sass alone. Finnick kept a greenhouse and large garden for food in all seasons, and Judy was tasked with tending both as her rent. As a descendant of a long, long, long... long line of carrot farmers, this was a cakewalk. She also got to select the mainstay of what they used for their meals.

Life in the castle was smooth sailing as far as she was concerned. The three had their relatively easy chores and took turns cooking, and the mountain of gold Finnick had in his hoard kept supplies coming in every two weeks. It was possibly the easiest Judy had ever lived.

A couple hours later, her stomach growled as she sat down to eat. "Where's Nick?"

Finnick grunted, "Hunting."

"Oh…" Judy hoped she didn't sound too disappointed.

"Don't get a squeamish on me." The pygmy dragon leaned against the pot and regarded her flatly. "We mostly eat the same food you do, but every once in a while, we need meat."

"I know. I got used to it in barracks. That was a long time ago."

He snorted. "It was a few weeks! A month tops."

"It feels a lot longer," she said mostly to her bowl.

"I love it when females say that," Nick chimed in as he slipped through the open door. Judy's blush was forestalled as she saw what he had dragged in with him.

Finnick padded over to inspect the catch while Nick helped himself to a bowl of thick vegetable soup. It wasn't until he was seated and had a mouthful of broth-soaked bread on its way to his mouth that he noticed Judy staring intently at his take.

"You ok, Carrots?"

Judy snapped out of her fugue and sputtered a quick "sorry!" before addressing her own bowl.

That earned a raised eyebrow from the fox, but nothing more. Judy quickly returned to her food and ate with her usual gusto, even getting her typical second bowl.

An aversion to meat obviously wasn't the reason she'd stared at his brace of pheasants so intently, Nick pondered as he finished his meal. As he pulled a tankard from the shelf and filled it, he asked, "Who's on dinner duty today? Those birds will take a while to roast."

Finnick replied, "The rabbit. Just lemme burn the feathers off, and you can get started."

Suddenly, Nick understood Judy's attention. "I'll take care of dinner for us, Finn."

"No!" Judy's shout made both males jump. "Um.… I'm fine cooking fowl. I had to do my turn in the barracks too. So it isn't a problem."

The other two shared a look before heading for the door. Finnick headed to the curtain wall platform to defeather the birds, while Nick's feet carried him towards the stairs. He needed a bath after spending the morning in the woods. He also needed to get a small surprise ready. As he'd left the room, he wasn't positive, but he'd thought he'd heard her say, "I'm going to enjoy this…"

At dinner, he discovered he had not been hallucinating.

Finnick collected his share of roasted pheasant and soup before retiring to his room with a very large bottle of spirits, leaving the two of them alone at the trellis table. Under different circumstances, Nick would have been tempted to edge towards flirting. He was curious if their moment in the bath was a one-off and was eager to test those waters again. However, his interests were sidelined when Judy took a slice of pheasant, placed it on her plate, and casually stabbed it with her fork. Seeming to have no interest in bringing it to her mouth, she stabbed it again. And again.

"You know, Fluff, I'm not one for table manners, but I have to ask. Why are you playing with MY food?" Dropping her fork, she nervously returned to her plate, but Nick plucked both her soup and bread from in front of her, leaving the offending slice of fowl behind. "Nope! That worked this morning, but now you're telling me why you dislike pheasants."

She sulked. "It's stupid."

"Possibly."

"I really don't want to tell you," she huffed, refusing to look at him.

He rested his elbows on the table. "But you will, if you want your food back."

She fidgeted in her seat. "There are other bowls and more soup in the pot."

Nick sighed lightly and smirked. "True on both counts," he commented as he left the table.

Judy watched as he walked across the room to a small cupboard that was so broken she hadn't even realized anything usable was over there. She'd made some progress in getting the disaster-area her fellow residents called a home into some kind of order, but there were swathes of destruction she hadn't touched. The fox had obviously capitalized on that. Her interest peaked at his return. In his paws was a large covered dish.

"There is plenty of food, but only I know where to get these." Nick lifted the cover to reveal fresh wild strawberries—a truly rare treat. Judy knew she was done for.

"Meanie."

In response, Nick lifted a berry from the bowl and bit it in half. His grin was all the impetus she needed.

"Alright, alright. I give."

"Not a berry until you tell me."

Judy groaned. "It's embarrassing!"

"All the more reason to do it quickly. Drawing it out will only mean there are fewer berries left for you." He punctuated his statement by finishing the fruit in his paw and reaching for another.

For a moment, she considered diving for the bowl, but Nick saw through her and slid it closer to his chest. Judy caved. "It was during the journey here."

"Okay…"

She buried her face in her paws. "I was attacked by a pheasant."

"I'm sorry?" Nick asked around his chortle.

"I know you heard me."

"How were you attacked by a pheasant?" The chortle became a chuckle, and Judy's glare barely impeded it at all.

Fuming and red-eared, she continued. "I think I startled it. I was traveling through the woods when it burst out of the underbrush. It crashed straight into me."

"Go on."

"I got it off me and stood, but it must have smelled the food in my pack. It rushed me, and I slipped because of all the bad weather. It went straight for the food and got its head stuck in the top of my pack."

Nick's ribs were cramping from holding in his mirth. Not trusting his voice, he simply nodded, masking his smile behind a paw. Judy wouldn't have noticed either way. As she relived the event in her mind, her awareness of her surroundings was entirely absent.

"That damn bird.… I got tangled in the harness, so I couldn't take the pack off. I…panicked. I don't know how long I swatted at that thing with my walking stick, or how far I ran, but I finally got rid of it. It flew off into the woods again with my food pouch around its neck. I had to forage until I found a village."

Nick couldn't contain himself. His laughter was warm and full-bodied until he saw the pout all over her face. Then, he was howling and rolling on the floor. Judy took the opportunity to steal the bowl of strawberries and eat her feelings. About half of the sweet fruit had vanished into her muzzle by the time Nick collected himself again.

"Oh, Carrots." Nick wiped a tear from his eye. " _That_ was a story worth sharing."

"You're not getting the strawberries back."

"I don't want any."

A pawful of strawberries paused halfway to her mouth. "What?"

"I had my fill at the field where they grow." Nick collected his empty bowl and plate, dumping them in the bucket. "Those are for you."

"I.… Thank you…" Judy's ears were the same color as the fruits until she realized Nick was headed towards the stairs again. "Where are you going?"

He stretched and yawned before he answered, "I had a long day hunting and then up on the West tower roof, fixing that leak. I'm going to bed."

"What about the dishes?"

Nick paused in the doorway and responded with a wink before slinking out. Judy's half-laughing shout of "jerk!" chased him up the stairs, and his laughter echoed back at her.

Rolling her eyes and smiling, Judy dumped the dishes into the wash basin to soak and went back to nibbling on a strawberry. For a very long moment, she was tempted to follow him up to his room and let the chips fall where they may, but she wasn't feeling quite so brazen as that. Still, she was pleased at his consideration, and his laughter had warmed more than her heart. She had to work up the nerve to do what she had done in the tub.

Butterflies invaded her stomach at the thought. She needed a female to talk to—someone who could help her get over her nervousness. That someone appeared the following morning in the form of the former Lady Catherine Dunhop, who was accompanying her husband and their children on a visit to the castle for the weekly supply run from town.

The visit began with a wagon laden with barrels of beer and creates of supplies rumbling into the courtyard. Finnick had tried to escape, but it was too late. He had flapped down to the wagon just as the toddlers were released into the yard. The eight small rabbits were all over him in a blink. Normally, he would have flown away with relative ease. However, with the kits holding onto his feet, all he could do was drag them around just off the ground. Their gleeful shrieking filled the yard.

While Nick and Reginald Lops handled the delivery and shared news from town, Lady Catherine (now Kate Lops) set about acquainting herself with the newest member of the castle residency. Judy and Kate meandered along behind the passel of kits as they took turns harassing the lord of the castle. It was a satisfying sight to both rabbits. However, it didn't take long for Kate to see that Judy was troubled and lose patience.

"Sir Hopps—" Lady Kate intoned—"if you don't stop fiddling with your paws, you'll wear the fur clean off them."

She immediately hid her paws behind her. "Apologies, Lady Lops."

Kate snickered. "There's a set up for a bawdy joke if ever I heard one!"

"My Lady!"

"Oh, enough of that. My name is Kate. I used your title to get your attention at last, not to fall back into that formality nonsense I finally escaped from. Now, what has you so distracted that you would ignore a rare visitor? I know that knights of the Triburrows are better mannered than that."

"Um…. I'm just distracted today."

"Obviously. If your glances are any indication, it's owing to the presence of a certain male of the vulpine variety." Judy blushed furiously at the suggestion, but couldn't muster a rebuttal. Smirking victoriously, Kate pressed her, "Am I not correct?"

"I can't deny he has a certain appeal," Judy hedged.

"He's a fetching male as foxes go," Kate conceded. "My interest is more in his skills than his form, however."

"He certainly has his talents."

"Does he now?"

Judy realized too late that she'd given herself away. "Oh! I'm..."

"I don't think less of you for it, Hopps. He's a good-looking tTodd. I'd have a go at him myself, if I was a few years younger and not happily married. I was tempted when I met him, I admit. If I didn't have Reggie, I would have found out what all the fuss for canids is about. That said, I have to ask…. How is he?"

"I'm not sure I can answer that." Judy fought not to stammer. "I mean, it was only once. And I was a bit tipsy at the time."

Kate hummed in concession and smirked. "I guess you'll have to tell me next time we meet."

"Wait! It may not happen again."

"You act like it's not a sure thing. You're staying in a ramshackle castle in the middle of almost-nowhere with him." The statement was punctuated with a broad gesture to the castle around them. "What else is there to do?"

"Fair point."

"Look Judy, all you have to do is offer. What did you do the first time?"

She gave up and admitted, "I jumped him in the bath."

"Good girl!"

"I was hungover!" Judy explained, her embarrassment catching up with her. "Ok, I was still tipsy and had half his breakfast beer first. But I couldn't help it!"

"He's that impressive?" The look of delight on Kate's face was close to lurid.

"It'd been that long."

"So both."

Judy nodded bashfully.

"Alright. Here's what you do. You take the first opportunity you find and jump him again."

"What?!" Judy sputtered.

"Sweetheart, it'll do you some good and him too, I'd wager. Just follow your instincts and don't think too much about it." Kate began drifting back towards the wagon. "You like him and he obviously likes you. Let nature take its course. Before you know it, he'll be hooked on baked goods."

"Baked goods?"

Lady Kate sent a saucy grin over her shoulder. "Buns."

Judy tried to follow Kate's suggestion, but somehow the fox was always slipping out of her reach. After Reggie and Kate Lops had corralled their kits back onto the wagon and led them out, Judy tried all afternoon to corner the fox to no avail. He was very busy it seemed. He was off to the forest for firewood one minute, and no sooner had he come back, than he was gone again, to check his traps at the stream. She tried, and failed, to follow him on each errand, culminating in an extreme of frustration for the rabbit when he didn't return for dinner.

Finnick, who had been drinking in his den since the kits had been pried off him, had emerged only to grab his plate before returning to his seclusion. That had left Judy alone in the niche of the keep they had made habitable. She'd finished her meal and had dropped her bowl into the bucket by the sink for a good soak when she heard a rumbling laugh far closer to her ear than she'd thought possible.

"Poor bunny."

She peeked over her shoulder to find Nick standing directly behind her. The ears that had been drooping all afternoon rose to full attention. "Nick! We missed you at dinner."

The voice from behind her was intoxicatingly close to her ears. "We?"

"Ok, fine. Me." Judy tried to be flippant. "Finnick's been sulking since this morning."

"And I've been dodging a certain someone who's been chasing me." Judy felt his body heat slide closer to her. A moment later, his paws cam to rest on either side, trapping her.

"I wasn't chasing you."

"I'm a thief by trade, Carrots. I know when I'm being followed." She felt him lean closer to her. "Want to tell me why?"

Thinking was becoming difficult. It _had_ been a long time since she'd had a male, and now she had one in-house. Furthermore, he had come to her. The irony of the situation was lost as she felt herself lean back and mold herself to his front.

The fox chuckled. "I see. Carro—"

She rolled her hips back, stopping him mid-word.

He rallied. "I think this is something we should talk about."

Judy swiveled around to face him and pulled him down for a long, blazing kiss. "We'll talk in the morning."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N:

And here we have the final chapter of the story I was sure would be a one-shot. This is my Halloween special, such as it is, and my return to writing after an annoyingly long and unplanned break. Here's hoping things go my way and my other works pick up i the wake of my broken writer's block.

My thanks to kt_valmiri for editing, Damlone and Blueberryandhoney for beta reading.

Now, on we go to the fun!

* * *

Fall was creeping into the vale. Crisp weather and multicolored leaves suffused the surrounding landscape with a sense of impending winter. However, it was still the glorious interlude between summer heat and the cold that Judy loved more than any other time of year. Rather, she had. This season was turning out to be a bit…odd.

She'd thought that she'd become accustomed to the peculiarities of her new life. As a knight, she'd had a plan. After her mission, she'd hoped for a plot of land to cultivate, maybe a few serfs to manage—a position of minor importance in service to her king, perhaps. Small ambitions, mayhap, but they were a good start and exactly what she'd been after when she'd set out to rescue Lady Catherine. And now she was exiled, living with a bonsai dragon and a semi-retired thief in the dragon's decrepit castle. Definitely not where she'd seen her life ending up at this point in time.

However, Judy was nothing if not adaptable. She'd taken to her new circumstances and settled in quite happily. Having a home and being appreciated helped enormously. A lover did, as well.

For a brief moment Judy allowed herself to be filled with giddy joy before she was back to sprinting in terror away from the gate screaming, "Demons!" Moments like this she regretted having given up carrying her sword with her at all times.

Nick's head popped out a window from their living quarters as a draconic belch tattled off the stonework. "Carrots? What's wrong?"

She skidded to a halt at the sound of his voice. "Demons! There are demons at the gate!"

"Really?" His head vanished.

She assumed he was looking off the walls. For a breath she debated racing up to arm herself, but figured he'd get weapons and save her the time. A moment later he was back.

"Excellent! I'll be right down."

"Eh…?"

And her day only got weirder from there.

Nick had been behaving stranger and stranger as the summer had faded into fall. Huge deliveries arrived with confusing regularity. At first, Judy had believed he was preparing for the winter. They'd need a fair stock of supplies and goods to make it through the worst of the cold months and deliveries would be nearly impossible once the roads became treacherous with snow, ice and debris. The volume they were getting in, however, was far in excess of their needs.

Barrels of flour, honey and baking supplies. And that wasn't the strangest of it. In addition to enough food for a small village, there were sacks of wooden coins and dozens of wooden swords in a wide variety of sizes, all wrapped up in cloth and stored away. The most interesting part of it was that all the unusual goods were squirrelled away in unusual places.

Nick was also getting very animated, but saying nothing. Especially around Finnick. Judy had tried to ask him about what he was up to several times, but he'd evaded. Once, he'd even clamped a paw over her mouth and lifted a finger to his lips before grabbing a bottle of what he called "the good stuff" and scampering off to give it to Finnick. That had been two days ago, but now she was going to get answers.

Nick had chosen to take the route along the walls to the gate, putting him slightly ahead of her. Judy wanted to at least grab her sword before running back, but she was more curious about his reaction than worried about their protection. That realization made her question her sanity all the way back to the gate courtyard. There, she found herself even more confused. Her fox was chatting animatedly with a child of the infernal.

"Nick! What is going on?"

"What do you mean?"

Judy blinked for a minute at the sincere confusion in his voice. "This may be a little hard for you to grasp, but you talking with a demon is a little weird."

"I ain't no demon!" The voice belonged to a very small female with a ruddy complexion and a shock of frighteningly red hair on the top of her head.

"Then, what are you?"

"Bit rude, Carrots," Nick commented.

Again, confused by the fox's reaction, Judy blinked and stammered. "Sorry! I… I've never spoken to a demon, before."

"I said I ain't no demon, rabbit."

Nick huffed a laugh. "Perhaps, you could tell her what you are, miss."

"I'm a hob. Elilza P. Dolittle, at your service!" the tiny female replied with a bow. "Don't let the name fool you! I'm a very hard worker."

"And what are you doing here, Miss Dolittle?"

"Looking for work. Me and my companions used to serve a vampire, but someone killed him and we're out of jobs. I heard there was a dragon here and that'd be a step up for us. So, here we are!"

Nick snickered. "Well, you aren't wrong. There is a dragon in this castle, but he's more interested in drinking and loafing around than anything else."

"Oh, that's a relief."

Judy found her voice again. "A relief?"

"Yes, miss. The Count was regular with his pay, but I didn't approve of his… proclivities. I'd rather work for a proper household."

Judy's giggle was a little hysterical as her eyes traced over the hob's companions. They were all nodding along with her words except for the one that was holding his own head under his arm.

"So, what are your skills?" Nick continued as though this was a normal day.

"Well, being a hob I'm a housekeeper by trade, but I'm a fair maid when the occasion calls for it. Travis, here," she gestured to the skeletally thin, seven-foot-tall, hairless male with no nose and huge ears in a formal suit. "Is a butler. And a fine one, too, despite being a ghoul."

Nick nodded. "I see. And the others?"

"The Dullahan is a coachman and the trio of imps serve as footmen and valets."

Nick rubbed his chin and hummed to himself before smirking. "Can you start immediately?"

"Yes, sir! Are you the proprietor?"

"No, but I can act in his place."

"A majordomo! What a relief. The nobility can be a little hard for us little folk to deal with sometimes. I'm glad to be coming into such a respectable house and with mammal servants!" Eliza turned to her smiling companions. "I think we have a good place, here!"

"Well," Nick began. "We aren't servants exactly. This isn't what you'd call normal when it comes to households."

"That makes no matter to us, sir. You take us on and we'll take care of the rest."

Judy glanced at Nick and saw something she had only glimpsed once or twice before—a genuine smile.

He cleared his throat. "Well, Miss Dolittle, I think there are places here for all of you. If you come with me, I'll explain how this crumbling ruin operates."

"Thank you, sir! You won't regret it!"

Judy stood blinking as Nick traipsed off into the castle with a motley crew of unlikely servants in tow—too flabbergasted to say anything.

She didn't see hide or hair of Nick for the rest of the day. He was busy settling in the new hires and working on his latest in-house project. For reasons he had refused to divulge, the fox had made it his pet project to get the castle's derelict kitchens cleaned out and functional. This was, in itself, severely odd.

The castle was a glorified ruin by any standard. The curtain walls stood, but the buildings were in terrible disrepair. Only the corner of the East Bastion and guardhouse had been inhabited when she'd joined the residence. The tower that she lived in had been cleaned out over a week's time by her and Nick. Nick stayed in the bastion and Finnick's lair was a huge cavern below the castle. The Lair was loaded from wall to wall with gold, jewels and treasure galore. The tiny dragon called it his trust fund – whatever that meant. Judy still didn't understand the term.

In the time she'd lived there, Nick had been notable in his attempts to improve the castle. Small repairs and handymammal jobs were a regular part of his daily activities. However, they were scattered all over the castle and were mostly centered on delaying the decay to keep them all comfortable. The kitchens, though were huge—a monumental undertaking. Chimneys needed repairing, rubble needed moving, walls required shoring up. The dirt and dust alone would take weeks to clear away. And there was no direct benefit to it. The kitchen in the bastion was all they used or needed, so why was the fox so hell-bent on such a gargantuan task? And without Finnick being the wiser?

Judy finally got an answer the following morning when she spied Nick creeping out of the kitchens with a pair of dark bottles in his paws and bursting into a fit of gleeful, celebratory dancing in the courtyard. It only lasted a moment before the todd sprinted off to Finnick. She ghosted along behind his until he was down the stairs to the lair. There was only one way in or out, so Judy settled in to wait. Perhaps five minutes later Nick reemerged.

"So!"

"Gah! Carrots, you scared the daylights out of me."

"Hard to do with a professional thief. Unless they're distracted, of course."

Unable to argue the point, Nick didn't bother to try. "Alright, what are you getting at?"

"I could insult both our intelligences by running through the list, but I think we both know what I want to know."

"Fine…" Nick sighed. "I was trying to keep it a secret for you, too, until the day of, but…"

"Just spit it out. Why did you hire two fae and four demons out of the blue? Why are you working so hard on the kitchens? Why are you keeping Finnick drunk out of his mind all the time?"

"I thought you weren't going to insult us both by asking."

"I can't help it! The curiosity is killing me!" The sound of her voice echoed off the walls and she quickly found herself ushered up the stairs.

"Alright! Alright, just stay quiet until we're outside. I left him snoring, but he's a light sleeper and those ears aren't just decorations." Nick pressed an ear against the stairwell door for a moment before nodding to himself and gesturing towards the parapet. "Come on."

Once outside, Judy was done waiting. She pinned the fox against the wall with a flat stare and refused to move until he started talking.

"Geez, rabbit, you're taking this awfully seriously."

"I don't like secrets."

"It's not like I'm hiding a mistress, or something."

"That's a topic for later."

"Wonderful…"

"Now, what's the surprise?"

"Are you familiar with the Feast of Wandering Souls?"

"The harvest festival. Usually coincides with the autumn equinox. You celebrate it?"

"Not exactly… See, about five years ago there was a flood. The usual festival grounds were unusable, so Lady Kate asked me to help out. She was paying me, so I didn't see the harm and we had this idea."

"What idea?"

"Well, the festival is about scaring off the ghosts and showing remembrance for loved ones who have passed. The castle is a good place for the first bit, so we capitalized on it."

"You're being vague. What does this all mean?"

"It means that we bring the town's younglings out so they can raid the dragon's keep."

Judy's jaw nearly hit the floor. "You what?"

"The kits put together costumes like knights and they get attack the castle. Townsfolk set up food stalls and games in the main courtyard. The wives and daughters cook and bake sweets. Lops Brewery provides beer and makes cauldrons of mulled wine and mead for the adults. The kits get fresh cider."

"And what do you do?"

"I keep Finnick too drunk to realize what's coming." He leaned in conspiratorially. "I also get in all the supplies and hide them to make it a surprise for the little ones.

Judy smirked. "Drunk and… distracted?"

"You saw the new scorch marks in the kitchen, huh?" Nick smiled. "Yes, I keep Finnick 'distracted' until the day-of. He hates the whole thing, especially the kits hanging all over him." Nick leaned back against the stonework with a jaunty shrug. "It's a huge surprise for the kits and a chance for the town and the "dragon of the castle" to get along better."

"You're joking."

"He's a grouch about it every year, but he ends up enjoying it once the kits all tire themselves out and fall asleep in the hayloft. Finnick can be quite social when he puts his mind to it."

"So, the demons…"

"They can serve the food and make a good impression at the party. Afterwards, they can keep us comfy. It all works out!"

Judy's paws shot out and yanked her fox forward and down until his lips met hers with a resounding smack. "How can I help?"

The day of the harvest party arrived for Judy with a flurry of activity. Nick roused her before dawn and unceremoniously shoved her out of the castle gate to help the townsfolk get ready. As he shooed her along, she saw males from the town hastily assembling small structures and unearthing the supplies they'd hidden around the castle. The last thing she saw of the fox for several hours was a wink and a smirk as he scampered off with a bottle of fortified wine for the dragon of the keep, leaving her at the gate.

Her job for the day was simple. She had to entertain and distract the kits until it was time to lead the assault on the gates. She had a plan to whip her impromptu army into shape and, with any luck, tire them out so they all took a well-deserved nap after lunch. That way they'd be able to stay up and enjoy the fun after the dragon had been defeated.

By the time evening rolled around she had two dozen younglings in cobbled-together armor standing a few hundred paces from the gates. What she saw in front of the gate bordered on the miraculous. Hay bales, short walls and small obstacles littered the pathway. Torches burned along walls flanking the course. Parents and well wishers lined the walls shouting encouragement. Judy turned to her troops, ready to urge them to battle, and stopped. They were all hopping in place and eager beyond words.

Judy drew her sword, pointed it at the castle and boomed one word, "Chaaaarge!"

In a storm of gleeful shrieks and rattling armor the kits shambled forward. Judy was grinning like a loon watching the kits help each other over, around and through the obstacle course. The older kits helped the younger ones along and the merry horde of would-be conquerors charged the gate. Judy watched their progression and tailed them, assisting the stragglers over obstacles and providing encouragement. When they reached the end of the course they all panting and bouncing in place, waiting for the gates to open.

Nick appeared at the top of the gatehouse and called out, "Who goes there?"

"Good and just knights to battle the dragon!"

One of the older fillies shouted, "No we aren't! We're brigands, here for his swag!"

The crowd erupted into laughter and cheers.

Judy shrugged and shouted, "You heard the lady! Open up!"

Nick wiped a tear from his eye and called out, "Come on in!", then vanished.

A moment later, the gate opened and Judy joined the kits in squealing with delight. The courtyard was filled with games, stalls, haybales, scarecrows and tables loaded with food. Torches ringed the walls, filling the space with light. In the middle of the central courtyard a groggy Finnick sat grouchily on a huge wooden chair. Around him were piles of wooden coins.

"The coins are yours to use at the games," Nick's voice boomed from the parapet. "If you can capture the dragon!"

Finnick's head shot up and he shouted, "What?!" But it was too late.

The younglings charged forward, swarming him. The fire-breathing fennec made a valiant effort to escape, but didn't even get off the ground. He ran as quickly as he could, desperate to get up enough speed to take off, but every time he got clear there was another kit in his way. They chased him around the courtyard willy-nilly until a young sheep grabbed him around the waist and hoisted him into her arms.

"I got him!"

The kits cheered and the adults howled with laughter. The conquering ewe was given the throne to sit in and she preened for all of five minutes before she was off with her friends, her arms full of wooden coins.

Judy picked herself up from leaning against the wall where she'd leaned in her fit of laughter to find that Nick had joined her. "What do you think, Carrots?"

"This is incredible. The whole town is here!"

"And getting along with the new hires."

They looked around. Eliza P. Dolittle was a blur of efficiency. Wherever mess appeared, it was whisked away with uncanny speed. The imps were running game booths and teasing the players. The Dullahan was juggling its own head, a torch and an apple—somehow managing to take bites from the apple midair—and the ghoul was wandering through the venue offering a platter of sweets to anyone who passed by. The townsfolk mingled and played, the platters of sweets vanished with alarming speed every time a pack of kits passed the tables, and everyone was chatting amiably. Even Finnick was being social with the brew master and mayor at a table in the corner.

Unconsciously, Judy reached out and took Nick's arm.

As they passed, they overheard the ghoul butler in enthusiastic discourse with an otter and a bobcat who made their living as trappers.

"My family gave up carrion generations ago. We barely even eat meat, now."

"Really?" the bobcat inquired around her mug of beer. "That didn't cause trouble for you?"

"It was an adjustment, but we made do."

The otter was deep in his cups as he slurred, "I could never give up fish."

"Sonny," the butler nodded sagely. "A well-smoked salmon is truly the greatest thing in the world. Except for a nice M.L.T. A mallard, lettuce and tomato sandwich? When the mallard is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe. It's so perky. I just love that."

Judy snorted and nuzzled herself against Nick's arm before dragging him up to the walls. "I can't believe you did this. I didn't even catch on until the end!"

Nick gestured to himself. "Sly fox." And then to her. "Distracted bunny."

"Distracted, indeed," Judy murmured as she pulled the fox in for a long, dizzying kiss.

It was cut short when the whistles and hooting from below them reached their ears, alerting them to the fact that they had an audience.

Nick groaned. "Now, you've done it."

"Done what?"

"We'll be the gossip of the town for weeks."

Judy laughed. "In a couple weeks we'll be snowed in until spring. The rumors will die off long before then."

"I doubt that."

"Nick, we'll have four months all alone up here. I think we have better things to do with our time than worry about the rumor mill."

"The gossip about us kissing is the least of my concerns. They'll be talking about us all winter. I know it."

"If not the kiss, then what's the big deal?"

"Do you have any idea how big a deal weddings are out here?"

Judy's head snapped around to find her fox on one knee with a little box held out to her. Blood rushed to her ears and a feeling of elation zipped down her spine.

"Y-You… You set all this up to propose?"

"It's called a hustle, sweetheart."

She tackled him to a thunderous cheer from the courtyard below.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N:

I know, I know. This is the last chapter, I promise. I had a brainwave and I couldn't stop myself.

All my thanks to Damlone, OnceNever, Blueberry and KT for their help.

If you're interested in supporting my writing, my Ko-fi address is in my profile.

* * *

Dame Cotton Hopps, Lady Knight of the Triburrows Kingdom, finally had the castle in sight. It had been an exhausting, miserable journey. She just prayed she still had the strength to fight.

Her charge had been simple—the stuff of fairy tales: reach the castle, avenge her sister and lay her bones to rest if she could. She had trained since her sister's disappearance ten years previously for this single purpose, even taking on the cursed title of Dame Hopps that her sister had earned for their family. Her family's minstrels would pass down the legend of her sister's heroism for generations to come. She only hoped she could give the story a happy ending.

 _I hope they leave out the muddy boot incident…_

Her road had been challenging right from the beginning. Horrid weather and roads, bandits and an insane woodland fowl were just the beginning of her woes. She was exhausted from the mud and muck and misfortune. If she didn't know any better Cotton would have suspected that Gaia herself was opposing her mission.

It didn't matter, though. All her hardships were worth it! She had arrived!

The castle was in better shape than she expected and the village surrounding its gatehouse was a surprise. There were smaller monsters and demons all over the place, but it was astonishingly clean. She'd expected a miasma of evil or sickness to be hanging over the place, but there was no trace of either. The mammals she saw milling about were no blank-minded thralls, but were clear-eyed and seemed energetic. Stranger still, the villagers seemed to interact with the various demons and fae very comfortably.

The peacefulness was increasingly distressing. Step by achingly nerve-wracking step, Cotton made her way through the town, blending in with the castle staff and villagers. She kept a low profile, but was bewildered that it didn't seem to be needed. There were no guards on the gatehouse and no barrier to keep anyone out. There wasn't even a respectable turnpike.

Her goal was the keep, where the lord of this demesne would doubtlessly hold court. The dragon was outside her capacity to slay, she was sure, but the seneschal would be tractable enough with the correct handling. She had to be quick once she found him. Interrogation if she had time, torture if she didn't. Either way she needed to find her sister's remains and give them a proper burial. If that took blood, so be it.

It took minutes of tension to traverse the mammoth structure without drawing attention to herself. By the time she made it into the keep, she was nearing a state of nervous exhaustion. It was so bad that she almost missed the fact that the door from the hallway to the master suite was open.

She took a moment to listen and heard a male's tenor on the inside. It was now or never. She rammed her shoulder into the door and charged into the room to the tune a very feminine shriek. That brought her up short, leaving her open for the door to swat her off her feet on the rebound from the wall.

"De ja vu."

Cotton scrambled to her feet at the sound of the words, gripping her sword as she stood. Seeing a well-dressed fox in the midst of changing trousers, she pointed it at him.

"Where's my sister?"

The Reynard blinked. "Your what?"

"My sister. Dame Judith Hopps. Where are her remains?"

Now, he balked. "De ja vu with a dark twist."

Before Cotton could snap at the idiot, she felt a blade at the back of her neck. "Whoever you are, you'd better have a good reason for threatening my husband."

She couldn't believe her ears. "Judy?"

The blade vanished. "Turn slowly. If you do anything stupid you'll regret it sorely."

Cotton slowly turned, hardly believing her ears. Then. her eyes were playing tricks on her. There stood her sister alive and well, dressed in a beautiful gown and holding a sword on her. "By gods, you're alive!"

"That seems to be the case," Judy replied, confused. "Now, who are you?"

"You don't recognize your own kin? It's me, Cotton. Your sister."

Judy's face lit with joy and two swords clattered onto the flagstone floor as the does embraced.

"Cotton! You're all grown up! What on earth are you doing here?"

"I've come to avenge you," she stammered.

"Avenge what?" Judy half-giggled.

"You. I'm here to avenge you."

The fox snickered. "I can't wait to hear this one."

Judy glanced around her sister with a cocked eyebrow. "Are you planning to finish changing, or do we need a repeat of three summers ago?"

His face dropped and he quickly pulled his trousers on, much to the bemusement of the younger doe. "Judy… Did I hear you right? This fox is your husband?"

"He is. His name is Nicolas, but first thing's first. You're going to explain this whole 'avenging' business."

"Yes, please." Nick commented as he cinched his belt. "It's been a while since I was accosted at sword point in my bedroom by a random rabbit in armor."

"That's… awfully specific," Cotton commented uncomfortably.

"And nostalgic."

Judy walked over and swatter her husband on the arm. "Behave yourself. She's family."

"Fine. Fine. No teasing the tired, confused and unsteady rabbit."

Cotton could only stare bemusedly at the pair. There was no doubt that her sister was alive and well. And married. To a fox. Suddenly, the world swam a bit and she had to steady herself on a nearby chair. Naturally, the chair had to slip out of her grip and she ended up in a clattering, semi-conscious heap on the floor.

"Good grief," Judy muttered from somewhere above her. "Come one, honey. Give me a hand."

The Dame felt competent paws remove her armor and lift her from the floor. She felt her awareness returning enough to try grabbing onto something for stability, only to hear the fox complaining. "It's a good thing I'm used to having my nose grabbed by the kits, or this would be really awkward."

She snatched her paw back in time for her griping bearer to deposit her gently into a padded chair. A moment later a snifter of brandy was pressed into her paws and she sipped the libation gratefully.

Judy gave her a few moments to collect herself before prompting, "When you're ready, start from the beginning."

Cotton nodded and began.

"When you didn't return from your quest you were declared dead in service to the kingdom. They gave you the posthumous title of Dame and land to go with it along the deed to the farm our family worked. Our family is now minor landed nobility."

Judy smirked. "What?"

Cotton nodded. "You're a hero of the Triburrows and venerated, but because you died fighting a dragon the title of Dame Hopps became cursed. It was a black mark against our standing."

"The title I earned for my family is cursed." Judy blinked in confusion. "You have got to be kidding."

The fox chuckled. "This just keeps getting better."

Judy looked at the fox saying, "Hush, you."

"So, you're what?" the fox prompted. "A noble sacrifice to clear the superstition?"

"I'm a loving sister who trained for a decade to purge the curse and lay my kin to rest."

"So, 'yes', then?" the fox deadpanned.

Before Cotton could snap back at the annoying vulpine, Judy reasserted herself. "By undertaking this task, you were cleansing our family name."

"Yes."

"I presume," Nick commented wryly, "that the act is more important than the accomplishment?"

"What do you mean?" Cotton inquired.

Nick glanced at his wife. "Do you need to return triumphant in order for this 'curse' to be lifted?"

"Well… no." Cotton was unsure of what the fox was getting at. "Undertaking the quest cleared our family name."

"So, you don't have to return," he confirmed.

"No."

Judy looked at her sister consideringly. "Do you want to?"

Cotton's brain seized. "Huh?"

"Do you want to return? Is there anything you have in the Triburrows Kingdom worth returning for?"

"I don't know," she replied uncertainly. "I spent so long training and… I didn't expect to survive my mission."

Judy sighed and looked at her erstwhile sister. "I'm happy to see you, Cotton, but, as you can see, I'm not in need of burying."

Relief and confusion pooled in her and Cotton felt tears start to well up in her eyes. "Ten years wasted… I've been on the road for weeks, now. I've faced weather and bandits…"

"A pheasant, perhaps?" the fox inquired.

The younger Hopps snapped out of the downward spiral at the accurate non sequitur and blinked. "Yes. How did you know?"

"History repeating itself."

Judy cut in, saying, "Nick, ask Travis and the imps to prepare rooms for my sister and another place at dinner." The fox winked and trotted off and Judy turned to the unsteady Dame. "Cotton, come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"When I arrived here, I wanted two things: a hot meal and a hot bath."

Manic delight flooded the weary rabbit. "A bath?"

Judy nodded with a slime as she led her sibling along the brightly lit halls of her home. "And when you're done, we'll have dinner and I'll tell you a story."


End file.
